Missing Links:

Demic Diffusion and the Development of Agriculture on the Central Iranian Plateau

Abstract

This thesis studies the development of agricultural settlements on the Central Iranian Plateau during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. To date, no Early Neolithic sites (ca. 8000-6500 BC) are known on the Central Plateau. This thesis aims to establish whether there was an Early Neolithic presence on the Central Plateau through taking a combined approach involving: a review of the current information available on the Neolithic of Iran and surrounding areas; the re-calibration and chronometric hygiene evaluation of existing radiocarbon determinations for Neolithic sites in Iran and neighbouring areas in order to map the ‘spread’ of agriculture; and the analysis of new data from recent archaeological research the Central Iranian Plateau. In studying the development of agriculture on the Central Iranian Plateau this thesis will provide valuable information on the origins and spread of agriculture in Central and South Asia, a region which has received relatively little archaeological attention in comparison to Europe. In particular, this research will elucidate whether the prevalent model for the spread of agriculture across Europe – Ammerman and Cavalli-Sforza’s (1984) ‘Wave of Advance’ – is equally applicable to Central Asia, as has been suggested by Renfrew (1987), but never explicitly tested. As this research utilises both new and old data and provides both temporal and spatial perspectives, it represents an original study of the prehistoric period on the Central Iranian Plateau.